Emily Miller at the Washington Times has thoroughly chronicled Mr. Witaschek’s court proceedings, which to date have spanned nearly two years and now appear likely to continue into the appellate stage.

William F. Vanderpool, a retired supervisory special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, [explained] to the judge that the saboted lead balls have no powder or propellant attached, so are not “live…”

The primer on the shotgun shell had already been struck by the firing pin. Mr. Witaschek kept the misfired shell on his home office desk as a memento from a hunt.

Ultimately, Mr. Witaschek was sentenced to time served, a $50 fine, and is required to enroll with the Metropolitan Police Department’s firearm offenders’ registry within 48 hours.

Although the conviction sounds relatively benign, the guilty sentence carries its own set of personal and professional ramifications, which Mr. Witaschek will now have to work through. Moreover, this case represents a shocking display of favoritism carried out by D.C. area law enforcement.

As noted on Legal Insurrection before, NBC anchor, David Gregory, previously managed to avoid prosecution even after the anchor violated D.C. laws by procuring an empty 30-round magazine and displaying it on live television.

Unlike Mr. Witaschek’s unknowing violation of the law, the violation by Gregory and NBC was no accident. Indeed, as we’ve shown here before, an e-mail from an NBC News representative explicitly inquired into the legality of the use and possession of the empty magazine. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department told NBC that, “possession of high capacity magazines is a misdemeanor.”

Roughly 36 hours following receipt of that unequivocal advisory e-mail from the MPD, Gregory brandished the magazine on NBC’s Sunday program, Meet The Press.

It was later determined by the Office of Attorney General, in no uncertain terms, that Gregory and NBC clearly violated D.C. laws by possessing the magazine. The MPD delivered a Warrant and supporting Affidavit to OAG, a document OAG has refused to provide to Legal Insurrection in response to our Freedom of Information Act request, and which we are now fighting in court (with the help of Judicial Watch) to obtain.

Notwithstanding this determination that Gregory and NBC News violated the law, the OAG opted not to prosecute Gregory or anyone at NBC because, among other things, “prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust.”

Barely three weeks after the willful violation, the entire issue was thrown out. At least for Gregory and NBC, that is.

No such luck for the recreational hunting enthusiast, Mr. Witaschek, who endured nearly two years of vociferous prosecution from the Attorney General’s office for a substantially similar, though inadvertent, violation.

I wondered why the police had reason to search his home. According to one of Emily Miller’s earlier stories about this incident, this guy’s ex-wife gave authorities the information they needed to get a search warrant. 30 guys then dressed in SWAT gear raided his home. A son of the man was in the shower when the raid began, so they used a battering ram to bust down the bathroom door and yank the naked kid out of the shower. It’s unclear from the story I read if the ex-wife who instigated this is the mother of the kid. If she is, she’s probably ruined whatever relationship she ever hoped to have with her kids.

We all know Gregory and NBC were let off the hook because of who they are – privileged elites. I wonder if there is a backstory here as well. At least from what I’ve read, this case is gross overkill and an abuse of prosecutorial power. I have to wonder if the ex-wife has political connections of some kind. What could motivate the prosecutor to waste so much time and taxpayer money on a victimless “crime” in which nobody’s liberty was ever infringed? The guy claims this conviction will destroy his business. Why ruin a man’s life over something so inconsequential?

Your Honor, I have sitting in front of me on this table a lead pellet from some #8 shot, a BB, some spherical lead balls of various caliber from .38 up to .75, and a 8 pound cannonball. Can you tell me under the law which of these objects are illegal, and why? But before you answer, I just want to remind you that your house was built in an area where the British skirmished with American forces, and that one or more of these objects are most certainly on your property.

That this case ever went to court is a travesty to the 2nd Amendment, and the 1st Amendment. The judge in this case, as well, should be given a warning – or whatever they do to justices who make such an unjust, inane ruling (paraphr.: “I can’t hear any gunpowder – so you’re guilty!” WTH?!?!) NRA and other groups need to support this man and have such infringements repealed, and such judges publicly exposed for the hacks they are.

The estranged wife (now ex-wife?) should be forced to go to sensitivity training and anger management counseling, and perhaps have a “come to Jesus” moment herself when someone leaves a shell or round casing on her property……and the SWAT team is called on HER!!

The estranged wife (now ex-wife?) should be forced to go to sensitivity training and anger management counseling, and perhaps have a “come to Jesus” moment herself when someone leaves a shell or round casing on her property……and the SWAT team is called on HER!!

No, it is far more likely that she would get the “Gregory” treatment and not suffer any loss.

ebay always has a generous number of listings for artillery shells and trench art — spent brass shells that WWI soldiers engraved and reshaped to make lovely vases, lamp bases, and more. I guess these historic souvenirs cannot be shipped to or owned in DC. I guess I am going to add a new category for my collecting mania to focus on. Once again, the left’s determination to suppress harmless activity makes me feel kinda contrary.

The NRA, which they’re behind this of course, they want guns everywhere. Jesus Christ! I would like to invite one of the NRA board members, and I’ll be armed, let’s just get this over with, OK? Come on down to Georgia and I’ll be packing heat and you be packing heat or whether you want to or not, I don’t give a damn, it’s up to you. And you come, meet me someplace, and all of a sudden, see, we have stand your ground here, and all of a sudden I’m going to feel real goddamned threatened by you! And I will shoot you! If I feel threatened. The law says I can!

This is pure madness. Liberal nuts ….that hatch lunacy. How much was spent to prosecute this guy who owned this used inert shell? Is the judge this stupid, or are his hands tied by the law. Has common sense of every kind left the Beltway?
It’s time to flush our these morons…these vermin. Let’s pray for a return to sanity in this nation.

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